CATA Alliance calls for major SR&ED overhaul

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) has joined the chorus of organizations calling for changes to the $2-billion scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) tax credit program.

"The program needs to be much better integrated with other tax measures (and) the legislation itself needs updating and improvement," states CATA. "There (is) significant room for the Department of Finance to make the current legislation more effective and less confusing."

CATA wants Ottawa to consider changes to several aspects of the program including its scope (range of activities and costs considered eligible), refundability provisions, interpretive issues relating to the legislative and policy complexity and the impact of its administration undertaken by the Canada Revenue Agency. It also calls for a technical analysis to learn more about how other countries are using R&D tax credits to spur innovation.

CATA recently completed a report based on a series of roundtables, an on-line survey and interviews . It follows a major report commissioned by the Information Technology Association of Canada and the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (R$, July 28/06).